Polish man accused of racism after setting up kebab stand 'made by real Poles, not foreigners'

Aself-styled Polish “patriot” has opened a kebab stand for "real Poles" wanting to buy the famous Middle-Eastern dish from somebody other than a foreigner.

Jerzy Andrzejewski opened his business a few days ago in the eastern town of Lublin selling kebabs from a converted caravan emblazoned with the slogan "a real kebab for a real Pole" and sporting a livery of red and white, the colours of the Polish flag.

Mr Andrzejewski claims he is not intolerant and that he learned the art of kebab making from Arabs, but he explains he has tapped into a market for people who like kebabs but refuse to get them from Turkish or Arab-owned establishments.

“There are people who want a kebab in Lublin but do not want to buy it from an Arab, and were looking for a Polish one,” he told Gazeta Wyborcza, a Polish newspaper. “There is a saying, you know: ‘Have a kebab: settle an Arab.’

“I’m a patriot who likes to eat kebabs and others do as well,” he continued, adding that he was also supporting Poland by using only Polish ingredients for his kebabs, pita bread and sauces.

Mr Andrzejewski claims he is not intolerant and that he learned the art of kebab making from Arabs

Professor Rafal Pankowski from Warsaw's Collegium Civitas university, an expert on racism in Poland, says those from the far right have a genuine problem buying street food while preserving their neo-Nazi credentials at the same time.

“People who buy kebabs in Poland are often hooligans and they have problems buying them because they don’t want to get them from an Arab, or some foreigner,” he told The Telegraph. “They actually have to think about where to go. This man has seen clearly there is a market out there.”

Although some have regarded the story as a source of amusement, Mr Pankowski stressed that it reflects growing xenophobia in Poland.

“It comes from a certain anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-refugee climate in Poland,” he said. “The climate is worsening even though the number of migrants—especially Muslim migrants—is tiny.”

One kebab shop in Lublin was attacked last year, and had the words “Muslims are pigs” and “Muslims out!” daubed on it.